The Rose That Bloomed Twice
by Puck's Favourite Girl
Summary: In a world destroyed by Easter, Amu is forced to make a decision that alters the entire course of Fate. When Easter gains the ultimate power, the Guardians are the only ones who can stop them. But as Easter picks them off one by one, Amu is left all alone as the world falls into ruins. Determined to save humanity and her true love, Amu does the impossible. She goes back in time.
1. The Return

**A/N Hi! Hi! It feels so nice to write a Shugo Chara fic again, it's kinda like my comfort zone you know? Anyway, this story is going to be NOTHING like Safe and Sound for those of you who read it, and for those who haven't, let me assure you that this story is DEFINITELY going to take you for a ride. Be ready for intense action, romance and a mystery that'll boggle your minds. I hope you enjoy this story!**

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><p>Have you ever lain in bed, late at night when good little kids should be sleeping, thinking about time and life and space and the secrets people hold? Do you have regrets? Do you have things you wish you could have done right? Wishes and wants and pleadings from the past?<p>

What if you could go back? What if someone gave you the key to time and all you had to do was turn it in the lock? Would you go back in time? Would you run through the clocks and ticking and memories and experiences and fix everything you couldn't back when you were younger? Would you hug your loved ones and cut ties with the people you knew would just hurt you down the road? Could you change your past to save your future?

Because if time travel was real…if you had the power to fix your mistakes…if you could save the ones you love and save the world from a future not worth living…if you could go back in time…would you?

I did.

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><p>"Mmm, Ikutooo! You're feet are cold!" cheeks flushing in annoyance, Tsukiyomi Amu pulled her legs up to her chest and turned her back on her five year husband.<p>

Grumbling, the blue haired man lying beside her turned on his side to hug his petite wife to him possessively. Blowing into her ear suggestively, he smirked as he imagined her widening eyes and open mouth. Pretending as though he were about to kiss her, his arm shot out to grab the blanket from in between his wife's arms. "Well I wouldn't be an icicle if someone wasn't such a blanket hog." He condoned teasingly.

"Blanket hog!" she screeched, "I'm not the one who uses their wife as a pillow!" harrumphing indignantly, Amu flicked Ikuto's forehead condescendingly, sticking out her tongue immaturely.

Like a flash of lightening, he was suddenly on top of her, arms locking her down as his nose brushed her own lighter than air. "But I can't help it…Amu." He whispered, secretly delighted at the nervous face she was making. She was such a fun tease, always so innocent despite the fact that he had already stolen any innocence years ago.

Twisting her head away, a resigned frown stretched across her lips. "Stupid playboy." She muttered as he chuckled before flopping back beside her, wrapping his long arms around her chest. "Honestly, it's already midnight and we're still awake. You're the one who said we needed to sleep early tonight." His wife murmured affectionately, drawing little stars on the top of his hands.

"But you're much more interesting than sleeping Amu…besides, we're adults now, there are much funner activities we could-" a curt slap interrupted him as he sighed petulantly. "You're no fun Amu." He pouted before he felt his eyes drooping closed. "We have a big day tomorrow don't we?"

Amu smiled, turning over so that her face snuggled into the crook of his neck. "Kukai's coming back from playing in the World Cup and we're hosting the party-dammit why aren't we already asleep?! I don't want to hear a word out of you until tomorrow understand?" she ordered, her voice leaving no room for discussion.

"But it's already tomorr-"

"IKUTO!"

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><p>Mornings were always hard. Waking up from your dreams, leaving the cozy warmth of the blanket and then splashing freezing water onto your face. Waking up sucks, but Amu had never felt more like a zombie in her life. Rising up from her pillow like the undead, she rubbed her eyes slowly, already feeling the chilly morning air and wishing she was back under her soft, soft blankets until her eyes zoomed onto the clock.<p>

"KYAAAAAA! IKUTO WE OVERSLEPT!"

Three-thirty. THREE-FREAKING THIRTY! HOW in the WORLD did they even sleep that late? It was ridiculous! Everyone was supposed to arrive at five and oh my God she hadn't even cooked dinner or cleaned the house or-WHY WAS THAT STUPID CAT STILL ASLEEP?!

Stalking over to the king sized bed menacingly, Amu's eyes flashed dangerously as she grabbed hold of her husband's ear and squeezed it painfully, smiling sadistically as Ikuto yelped as he jumped out of the bed, fully awake and angry.

Blinking, the blue haired boy rubbed his eyes before glancing at his disheveled wife. Taking note of her frantic eyes and messy hair, he groaned. "We overslept didn't we?"

She would have loved to yell at him, but there was not time for that, snapping her arms behind her head and stretching, she pulled her arms in a winning gesture, a determined expression on her face. "Alright! We have an hour and a half to cook, clean and entertain. Let's go!" cheering and waving her arms around wildly, Ikuto could almost see her signature red heart clip from back then before shaking his head of their past memories.

Grinning at her, he grabbed her hand as they walked down the stairs, splitting up at the kitchen, each ready to put in 200% before their friends showed up. This would be the first time they'd ever held a party at their own home and they were determined to do this right.

One hour and twenty minutes later, the two adults were running around their room, stuffing legs into pants and feet into shoes. Amu pulled on a soft purple summer dress and quickly pulled back her hair into a ringlet side pony-tail as Ikuto slipped on a pale blue dress shirt and slowly ran his fingers through his hair.

Giggling, she reached over and fixed his collar, gently pulling it downward so all the sides were even as Ikuto smiled down at her gently. "Well, well, someone's all dressed up." He mused, running his eyes up her body exaggeratingly.

"Don't go thinking it's for you." She retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"And here I was about to compliment you…" he laughed, seeing her expression as he bent down to kiss her smoothly before pulling her down the stairs again. "Come on, we don't want to be late when Utau-"

A loud bang interrupted him as Amu's eyes widened in trepidation. "AMU! What kind of hostess are you? Forcing a pregnant woman to show herself in!" a familiar screech caused a sweat-drop to grow on the back of both their heads as Ikuto shook his head. "Speak of the devil,"

"And the devil will arrive." Amu finished solemnly before bounding down the stairs to hug her best friend.

"I really don't see what you being pregnant has to do with anything Utau. You really should wait for me to open the door before you come barging in." she reprimanded her as she took her jacket and hung it up in the closet adjacent to the door.

Snorting, Utau rubbed her protruding belly and rolled her eyes. "Right. Because you and Ikuto have hot monkey sex in the living room all the time."

Blushing like a fire hydrant, Amu stuttered, unable to think up a response as the haughty blonde strode in regally before collapsing on the large couch in the corner of the room. "As eloquent as always, dearest sister." Ikuto greeted, reaching out to ruffle his sister's hair affectionately.

Narrowing her eyes, the blonde singer swatted his hand away and glared at the older boy. "Don't touch my hair!" she screeched, "I have to look good for when Kukai comes back!"

"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you either way-"

"But I'm FAT! Look at me! I don't look like a star! He's going to leave me I know it! He's going to divorce me and then where'll I be?" bursting into tears, Amu's jaw dropped as she noticed Ikuto backing out the room slowly. Drama-queen sisters were one thing but overemotional, hormonal and PREGANT sisters? No way.

Glaring at her coward of a husband, Amu walked up timidly to the sobbing blonde and patted her back awkwardly. "Don't be ridiculous Utau. You're still as beautiful as always and even if you weren't, Kukai would still love you anyway because, well, technically, it IS his fault you're fat." She pointed out, gesturing at her bulging belly.

Snapping up her head, rage burned in Utau's eyes. "You're right. It isn't my fault. If anything, **I **should be the one divorcing **him**!" face-palming, Amu groaned before the bell rang.

Jumping up at the very welcome distraction, she threw open the door only to find the rest of her friends standing cheerily at her doorstep. "Amu-chan!" stepping in for a hug, the tall and talented Fujisaki Nagihiko pulled the grinning rosette into an embrace and hugged her tightly. "It's been a while Amu-chan." He greeted.

Rolling her eyes, Amu shared a look with his wife, "He hasn't changed a bit has he?" she asked dryly, grinning as the petite woman shook her head amusedly.

"We saw her yesterday idiot." Rima stated coldly, already pushing past her amused husband and into the airy house as she made space for Yaya and Kairi to come in as well.

"Amu-chi!" despite having grown up after all these years, Yaya's cute use of suffixes hadn't changed in the least and to be honest, it was a nice change to hear her childish voice. "Come on in Yaya, Kairi." Smiling, she invited them all inside before she noticed a dark blue car pulling up the side of the road.

Grinning joyfully, Amu turned around and widening her arms cried out, "Kukai's here!"

Jumping up, Utau all but ran to the front door and blocked everyone's way. "He's MY husband, so I get to see him first!" she declared, thrusting out her chest and sticking her hands to her hips.

"Well technically, I'm the one who saw him first Utau, but if you don't want to be technical…" stepping from behind the corner of Amu and Ikuto's house, Tadase stood calmly, waving at everyone and pulling the guest of honor into the picture.

"KUKAI!"

Jumping over the house steps, Kukai grinned widely as he burst through the door and swung Utau around, smashing his lips against hers in a passionate hello. A smack to the head forced him to pull away as he pouted in Ikuto's direction. "You already have a kid inside of her, don't go trying to make twins." He stated dryly, already walking back in the direction of the kitchen.

Blushing, Kukai turned away from his heated wife to say hello to everyone else as they all settled down onto the long dining table. The clattering of forks and spoons were heard over the rumbling over voices as questions were asked and greetings were made.

It was nice, Amu decided, that they could all be here together just like old times. But then again, old times would have meant that Utau and Ikuto would have been forced to work for Easter and she would still have thought she was in love with Tadase, so maybe the old times weren't all that great. But thinking back on it, thinking back on her old memories and her school life, she was glad that things unfolded the way they did. Because if they hadn't, she might have never been as close to Ikuto as she was. He would have never have confided in her about Easter and his forced servitude and he would never have found the motivation to search for his father. And Amu knew that it was all because he left that they had fallen more deeply in love. And when she thought about it, falling in love with the blue haired musician was exactly what she wanted and she never wanted it to change.

Twisting the crystal and diamond ring on her left hand, she could feel someone staring at her as she glanced up in surprise only to find herself staring into her husband's eyes. Eyes glittering, Amu smiled lovingly as Ikuto grinned back, a secret moment between just the two of them.

This was her life now. This was the happiness she had attained for herself, something only for her. A secret refuge from the storms life threw at her and a home she could always return to. As long as she was with Ikuto, she was happy. That was the kind of life they lived.

Too bad it was all about to disappear.

It was right about that moment, right when she was thinking about happy she was and how amazing her life was that her life was rocked from top to bottom and a brilliant light flashed in the middle of the table. A glaring white light burst in front of them as Amu brought her hands up to shield her eyes, unable to bear the brightness. Just when she thought her eyes would burn and the light would never disappear, it suddenly vanished, leaving twelve glittering eggs in its place.

Gaping, the nine friends stared at each other in astonishment as the one thing they thought they would never see again suddenly appeared before their eyes. "Is that-" Kukai started, unable to finish his sentence.

"That's impossible." Ikuto whispered, already thinking back to when Yoru left him in Paris.

"They're back." Amu murmured, already reaching out to grasp her four eggs, still floating innocently in the air.

"Amu, don't!" Ikuto's sharp voice stopped her in her tracks as her wide eyes stared at him in confusion. "Shugo chara aren't supposed to come back, especially not everyone's all at once. Something's not right."

"But that's exactly why we should take them. We have to find out what happened!" she pushed adamantly, arm already outstretched as her hands clasped around her four eggs.

Pulling them into her chest, she breathed in the scent of birth as she felt them hatch against her. Heart thumping in excitement, Amu suddenly found it harder to breathe as she saw the beginnings of a crack on all four of her eggs.

She had forgotten. She had forgotten how it felt to have guardian characters be with you. She had forgotten how lonely she felt after they had left and how long she had cried when she realized Dia wasn't there to lead her back to her future selves again. She had missed them. She had missed them so much and now that they were back, she didn't think she would be able to handle it if they were just going to leave again.

A sudden feeling of fear overtook her. Ikuto was right. This was unnatural. Shugo chara were for lost children, children who didn't know where they were going in life, lost, desperate and alone. And when you grew up, when they knew you would be alright without them, they would disappear. Gone from your life, never to come back. So why were they back now? What horrible thing happened that forced them back into the human world?

But before she could even begin to think about the horrors that question asked, four guardians burst from their eggs, floating in front of her face. But instead of smiling like they had when she had first met them, the second they saw her face, all four burst into dramatic sobs, fat tears rolling down their pale cheeks. "Amu!" they cried, barely able to communicate from the heavy sobs and gasping as they clutched at her face and tried to take in gulps of air. "Amu it's gone! It's gone!" howling, Ran floated backwards as she tried to regain control so she could say what she wanted.

But instead of Ran, it was Dia who finally regained enough control to explain what had happened. "They've taken it Amu, the Egg's Cradle…it's gone." Gasping, Amu took a step back, memories of a large expanse of magic and light flashing in her mind.

"But that's impossible. It's not somewhere on this Earth." She whispered.

"Some science can beat even our magic." She murmured softly, looking off far away. "The Eggs Cradle has been destroyed, its magic taken and contained…we are the last shugo chara left. There will be no more, not after this." Suddenly, as though unable to bear the sad thought, Dia burst into more tears as Ran reached over to comfort her.

"We tried to get away-desu but the others…others…"Suu struggled to continue but lost her thought, her eyes staring past the rosette into memories she couldn't see.

"A lot of us didn't get a chance to escape." Miki finished. "Anyone who came back to their owners…we're the last shugo chara and if we don't regain control of the Eggs Cradle, every child's dream, all the growing dreams being born and all of them that are still sleeping, waiting to hatch will be lost forever." Miki's voice was low and Amu's eyes widened.

"No more hearts' eggs?" she asked, a horrible premonition overtaking her.

"People's dreams will be taken away…forever."

"But who…"

Serious blue eyes pinned her own as Amu's breath hitched. "Amu…Easter's back. And this time, they won't stop until they've destroyed all the magic in this world."

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><p><strong>AN Thanks for reading the first chapter and if there's any one of you who's interested in being my beta reader, that'd be reallllly great! I hope you liked it!**


	2. Transformation

She had never really understood the power the Eggs Cradle had until she entered her classroom. After years of teachers college and internships, Tsukiyomi Amu had become a well-loved and respected elementary school teacher. For her, nothing could ever compare to the joy she got from teaching. Being a teacher meant staying true to all her shugo chara, being athletic with her students, teaching the wonders of a colour palette, baking them sweets on Fun-Food-Fridays and teaching all of her children the importance of believing in your own radiance.

Children were, as a rule, delightful creatures who ran and jumped and smiled and laughed without cares or worries and being around them, being surrounded by all their dreams and hopes, made Amu's heart happy. She loved her students, loved how they dared to dream and how those same dreams danced in the corners of their eyes.

But when she arrived to school that next day, her charas opting to stay at home and mourn the loss of their friends with Yoru, her heart stuttered in her chest and her footsteps staggered.

Staring into the faces of her students, she saw nothing but blankness. A dull despair of no hopes or faith in their future. Neji, a cute child with wavy blue hair waved slowly at his teacher, his lack of enthusiasm a startling contrast to his normally bubbly personality. "Good morning Ms. Amu." Blank. Blank. Blank.

It was disturbing, to see a child show so little emotion.

Biting her lip, Amu strained to see the rest of her class, praying that one, at least one of them still had that childish glimmer in their eye, but every face she met gave her a deadened stare in return. Knees wobbling, Amu's fingers grasped the edge of her desk and her breath heaved in her throat.

Why.

Why did this happen to them? Why did this happen!

Shuddering, Amu forced her body to be still as she straightened her back, narrowing her golden eyes until they burned with a ferocious passion. "Class, I want to have a discussion today, why don't we talk about your drawings from yesterday?"

Simultaneously and without sound, her students pulled out their sketchpads and flipped to yesterday's work page. There, on every child's page, was a scrawled sentence of what they wanted to accomplish in their lives and a drawing to accompany it. Some were pastel, others were crayon. For those less artistically inclined, there were crude pencil sketches, lines struggling to connect, but the feelings were the same nonetheless.

Plastering a smile onto her face, the rosette bent down to meet her students' eyes. "So, who wants to go first, hm?"

Quiet.

"Come on kids, you were so excited about this yesterday. These are your dreams right? Don't you want to tell everyone what they are?"

"Dreams are stupid."

Taking a step back, Amu gazed at the young girl with the lost look in her eyes. "What did you say?" she whispered.

"She said dreams are stupid. And they are, because they don't exist." The young girl's friend spoke in the same matter-of-fact tone and Amu quenched the urge to shake her manically.

That wasn't what Ichigo was like. That wasn't the assertive girl with the ambitious hero complex Amu knew. Glancing down at Ichigo's page, Amu's brows met in a vengeance. A picture of Ichigo hugging the earth to her chest with the title, 'I'm going to save the world!' met Amu's eyes and suddenly, her chest tightened and her fists clenched, nails biting into her flesh.

How dare they do this to her? How dare Easter take away the future's dreams? These kids…they were the inheritors of the earth…these kids, they were going to change everything.

Just beside Ichigo was Rin, he was going to build a super-rocket that could take astronauts to Neptune at the speed of light. And across from him, his best friend. He wanted to be a doctor and travel overseas to help the people who couldn't pay for treatment themselves.

Being President, opening a business, being a baker, discovering the ocean and all the creatures lurking beneath the enigmatic blue, these were what her students dreamed of. This is what her kids wanted to be or do and that's what drove them to be better people. How dare Easter take that away from them?

Snarling, Amu vowed then and there that she would change this. She would alter this twisted world and bring back what was once lost.

Because nothing, absolutely nothing, was more important to her than saving these children's dreams. She would do anything to save them. Anything at all.

Remember that.

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><p>After that vow, their world goes to hell. It starts with Ikuto, the manager of the Entertainment Sector of Easter. Together, him and Utau rule the entertainment industry with Utau as a pop star turned actress and Ikuto as the head who found all the new stars and made them famous, getting rich in the process.<p>

Of course, as most companies are, all the sectors were generally independent of each other and as such, Ikuto was never really aware of what the other heads did with their time. After Hikaru was discovered to be the CEO of the company, the entire enterprise went under reform and it was decided that there would be no official CEO and instead, it would run as a board, with each head of one of Easter's sectors being represented.

Unfortunately, Ikuto was never one for boring meetings so instead, he paid a proxy to go in his place and inform him of anything of interest or actual importance. Over the years, nothing seemed to have been out of place, but now with the shugo chara back, Ikuto knew that was a load of crap and wondered who had paid his proxy off.

Determined to get to the bottom of the situation, he urged Utau to go on early maternity leave after he realized that Easter was behind the return of the guardian eggs and decided to take advantage of having his cat-like reflexes again and do a little reconnaissance work of his own. That was what they had decided. Together as a group, they nostalgically created a battle plan, or rather, a recon mission.

Nobody knew what was going on, and it was up to Ikuto to find out.

Walking into the Easter building, Yoru bobbing alongside him, Ikuto's ever-watchful eyes caught the intense stare of one of Easter's security guards next to the lobby desk. Normally, the blue haired man would have ignored it, except the shameless staring didn't seem to be directed at him at all. Clenching his jaw, Ikuto glanced ever so slightly to his chara and then glanced behind casually. Sure enough, the guard's stare was trained right onto Yoru.

Heart battering in his chest, Ikuto forced his eyes not to widen in shock as the extent of Easter's plan started forming in his head. Quickening his pace, he didn't notice the guard bending to his shoulder to speak into his walkie-talkie. Pressing the button for the elevator, Ikuto was about to walk in before he noticed a blonde guard heading right towards him. Narrowing his eyes, Ikuto licked his lips hurriedly before grabbing a hold of a passerby and swinging her into the open elevator doors just as the guard entered along with him.

"Hello Marie, have I told you how lovely you look with that ribbon in your hair?"

Blushing, the red haired woman laughed softly, "Hello to you too , isn't it a little early for you to be in office?"

Sliding his body so that he was between her and the guard, Ikuto slipped on a graceful smile, years of acting as a spy allowing him the fluidity of character to put on a façade of everything-is-fine. "Well, they say it's never too late to change."

Nodding amusedly, Marie's hair bounced as she jumped in surprise at the ping of the elevator and the ear-pooping halt. Sweeping his hand in an outward motion, Ikuto smiled, sinfully sweet. "After you madame."

Without pause, the two of them stepped out as Ikuto watched the guard murmur some incoherent words into his shoulder as he walked out the elevator. Flicking his tongue in annoyance, Ikuto closed his eyes in desperate thought. There were no windows, no escape routes and there was no way he was walking into his office. Knowing Easter, it was already filled with people ready to take him out.

Running a hand through his hair, Ikuto knew he had time considering he was in the middle of the office floor. As most of Easter's buildings, the working floors were all built in a way that had a main congregating area right when you entered it and then diverged to actual work cubicles as you went to the left or right. It was supposed to provide a comforting and friendly atmosphere, but right now, the only thing Ikuto felt was suffocated. Looking around, Ikuto couldn't spot even one familiar face that would be willing to help him out. Funny how he never picked up on that until it was too late.

Lost in thought once more, the light-bulb suddenly flickered to life over his head. Turning, the blue haired man walked briskly down the right hallway, pretending he was heading towards his office. Of course, Ikuto never did like doing what he was expected to, and just as he passed by the door with his name engraved on it, he broke into a run, dashing past varnished doors until he got to the end of the narrow hallway.

Sakura's office, one of the prettiest and well-embellished offices on the entire floor, it was also however, one of the only rooms with a window that looked over smaller office buildings. Knowing it was his only chance at escape; Ikuto's fingers wrapped around the metal door-knob and twisted hurriedly, the door opening to reveal the brilliant sun that shone through the window and the gun that clicked into place next to his head.

Hair drooping in front of his eyes, Ikuto staggered to a stop, his eyes widening in realization. He was such an idiot. They had evacuated the whole floor hadn't they? Probably adding some extras or employees from the floors above or below to take the place of his own workers. It's not like they didn't have time to plan this all out considering they know he was coming, he was the head of Entertainment after all.

Twisting his head to the right, Ikuto glared daggers into the guard's eyes, an otherwise emotionless expressiom appearing on his face.

Glowering back, the guard poked the end of his gun against Ikuto's head and sneered, "What? Trying to put on a tough face before you die? You can try, but they always end up sniveling in the end."

Ikuto sneered just as three more security officers burst into the room, each pointing their own weapon at him as though it was supposed to terrify him.

This wasn't the first time he'd been threatened.

"Separate him from his shugo chara immediately!" the newcomer shouted his order assertively and quickly enough, his two subordinates reached out to grab at Ikuto's chest and legs, patting him down as though he had hid Yoru inside of him. Smirking, Ikuto bent his head downward as he twisted around, jumping backwards while kicking the first man holding the gun in his wrist watching as Yoru flew out from behind the bookshelf.

"It's there! It's flying at Tsukiyomi, get it!" the leader reached forward, hand outstretched to catch the cat chara, but Yoru wasn't labeled as an alley-cat for nothing. At the same time, Ikuto's mind raced a million miles per minute as he struggled to understand how these men could see shugo chara when they couldn't the last time.

Dodging the guard's hand, Yoru crashed into Ikuto's chest, his body already fading as he merged with his partner. Feeling the familiar words rush out of his mouth, Ikuto couldn't help but relish in the familiar feeling of connecting with his chara, thoughts of the guards evaporating.

"My heart; unlock. Character transformation; Black Lynx." Setting steely eyes on his oppressors, Ikuto barely had time to react before the three guards with guns aimed and fired as the cat boy leaped onto the ceiling, his lips pulling back into a snarl.

Leaping forward, he swung his arm around as a ghostly blue cat paw launched out of his hand, swiping all four guards into the corner, the bookshelf toppling on top of them from the impact. Not leaving any room for luck, Ikuto swung his hand at the window, his attack shattering the glass.

Jumping through the broken window, Ikuto's tail flicked with the wind as he soared from roof to roof, trying desperately to reach his home in time. In time for what, he didn't know, but of course, when it came to them, it just had to be big.

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><p>Collapsing into his doorway, Ikuto scrambled into the house, dashing to the phone like a madman. Dialing the number he had long since memorized, he prayed for his wife to pick up her cell phone and as her soft voice questioned him with a "hello?" he thought his heart would just squeeze itself into nothing.<p>

Losing the transformation, Ikuto mouthed to Yoru to run get Amu's charas as he turned back to his conversation with Amu. "Amu, listen to me. Leave your school. Right now. Don't ask me questions, don't say anything. Meet me…meet me…" Ikuto cursed internally, panicking as he struggled to find a way to convey the meeting place without explicitly saying where it was. Easter was a powerful entity; it wouldn't be beyond them to have tapped his phone lines or even Amu's. "Meet me at the place where you held my hand."

Hanging up the phone abruptly, Ikuto knew she'd understand as he flew up the steps, grabbing their emergency duffel bag from underneath Amu's shoeboxes and meeting up with the charas at the stairs. Luckily enough, Japan was hazard territory and you never knew when you had to be evacuated at a moment's notice. As their own mitigation plan, Amu and Ikuto had made an emergency bag carrying all their important documents, cash, clothes and essentials in case they needed to evacuate quickly.

Of course, this was meant for escaping world-shattering earthquakes and unstoppable typhoons, not for fleeing from malignant criminals. But of course, life was full of curve balls and Ikuto was sure as hell not going to get hit by this one. Stopping only to consider which bus station to run to and grab something from underneath the bed, Ikuto slammed the door of his house shut. With the charas following after him, he ran down the street to catch the 54 bus, his destination the old wedding chapel where Yukari and Yuu got married all those years ago.

It was on his way to meet his wife when it occurred to him that he was targeted for a reason. Easter was after the holders of shugo chara, which meant that it wasn't just Amu who was a target, it was everyone they held dear too. Whether or not they wanted their actual shugo chara or their holders was a different story, but Ikuto wasn't going to take chances especially now that Easter had a way to see what was once invisible to them.

Cursing again, Ikuto turned to the woman next to him and pulling off his very best vulnerable expression asked to borrow her phone for an emergency call. Smiling kindly, the woman handed him her shiny black iPhone as he tilted his head gratefully.

Pressing the numbers violently, Ikuto pushed the phone against his ear just as Kukai's obnoxiously loud voice greeted him. "Yo! Who's this?" he asked cheerfully.

"Kukai. They know about our surprise guests from yesterday's dinner party. I think we should all meet up at the Chinese White House to talk about what to do next." Ikuto crossed his legs, praying that just this once, Kukai wouldn't be clueless about everything that wasn't made excruciatingly simple. Although he would probably understand it quick enough, considering the Chinese White House was Kukai's own bad joke.

"Chinese White House? What are you talking about Ikuto? Who the hell is 'they?'" confusion was evident in the way Kukai's voice lilted and Ikuto ground his teeth, trying to think of a way to get his point across without alerting anyone around him that this wasn't a normal phone call.

"Kukai, you do remember who came over yesterday right?" Ikuto decided to start slow.

"Yeah…the shugo-oh! Wait, wait, they know!? How do they know?"

Sighing, Ikuto's shoulders slumped forward, "I don't know, but what I do know is that we all really need to meet up at the Chinese White House, to catch up on life."

Kukai was quiet for a moment before he spoke, a trickle of fear leaking through his normally confident façade, "Ikuto…did they…did they do something to you?"

"Yeah. And it might happen to all of us if we don't go now." Making his voice lighter, Ikuto forced a chuckle, "it'll be great, to finally get away from it all, but keep it a secret okay? We don't want the whole world to know our travel plans. Let's plan to all meet in one week."

Kukai was stern when he replied, "They'll find us you know. We'd have to use our passports to leave the country and they'll know exactly where we went."

Smirking, Ikuto's eyes glittered dangerously, "That's exactly what we want, we'll all fly out to different cities, do some sightseeing, I heard there are these great shops where you can take photos of yourselves in these crazy costumes, apparently they're so good you don't even look like yourself afterwards. Then, we can all meet at the house and we'll just take a bus to our final destination."

"I don't really know what's going on but…I'll let everyone know where to go and I think I see your point. Change the way we look right? We can do that, we can get those fake passport things too."

"Exactly." Ikuto affirmed, staring out the window blankly.

"Okay Ikuto. One week. One week and you're going to explain whatever the hell is going on."

Ikuto nodded, even though he knew Kukai couldn't see it. "I will." He replied softly.

"Keep Amu safe okay? Don't you dare let anything happen to her." Kukai's voice was a warning, full of seriousness and promised threats.

Letting out a breath of air in a half-laugh, Ikuto's fingers reached for the 'end' button, "I will…take care of Utau too okay?"

He hung up to Kukai's quiet, "Yeah," before handing the phone back to the patient woman beside him with a small thank you.

His worries about his sister would have to be put on hold. He had to believe that Kukai would take care of his wife and unborn child just as Kukai believed Ikuto would take care of his own.

The bus pulled up against the curb and Ikuto followed the crowd out the doors. Outside and in the open, it was easy to spot his pink haired wife in the crowd and as he ran to her, Ikuto couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of relief that swept through him as he gathered Amu into his arms and hugged her tightly, the duffel bag pressing into her back.

Concerned golden eyes stared at him as Amu struggled to understand what was going on, "Ikuto, what happened to you! And the shugo chara, where are they?"

Popping out from the duffel pocket, the five chara waved silently, before Ikuto zipped them back in. "Ikuto! What are you doing?" Amu cried out, hand reaching out to free the chara before Ikuto grabbed her wrist from mid-air. "They can't be seen Amu."

"What?" Incredulity ran clear in the rosette's voice, "What are you-" Ignoring her, Ikuto pulled her hand as they walked back to the bus stop he had just come from. "I knew you'd figure it out." He commented softly.

Eyes gaping, Amu sputtered before she caught the pleading look in the blue haired man's eyes. He was always a paranoid man. Too private for his own good. Too restless and anxious, always worrying that someone would take their happiness away. Playing along with him, Amu glanced at their joined hands, "Well, it was one of the 'firsts' you mentioned in our wedding speech. How could I forget?"

Ikuto flashed back to the day of their wedding, the fondness of that memory striking a loving chord in his heart. He remembered planning that speech for weeks; finally coming up with something he thought was half decent. Ikuto being Ikuto, loved to poke fun at his fiancée's tsundere attitude and liked to recall how long it took to get to each step of their relationship and thus, his speech was born.

The first time he kissed her nose, first date, the first time he confessed-of course, that was accompanied with a joke of how she didn't believe him, the crowd laughed, so that was a point for him- the first time she'd met him and the first time she had reached out her hand to hold his after he'd been gone for so long. It was that moment, when her hand clasped his that he knew she was going to be his and that there was no other woman on the planet who could ever compare to her. It was one of his most tender memories and he was glad she had remembered it too.

Nostalgically, his hand twitched to hers and as her warm hand embraced his, he felt the urge to protect her run stronger than ever. "Amu, do you trust me?"

Staring up at her husband, Amu forced her questions and concerns away as she closed her eyes. Something was obviously not right. They were running, but she didn't know what from. She was scared and worried but if Ikuto said they had to go, then she would put her faith in him.

"Always."

As the bus pulled up alongside the curb and the pedestrians piled on, Ikuto leaned in close and kissed his wife's lips tenderly. "I love you Amu."

Brows slanting downwards in a saddened expression, Amu made a small humming noise in the back of her throat. "I love you too you stupid cat."

Lips twitching upwards to a smile, Ikuto walked up the steps into the bus, picking a seat in the very front. Together, the couple transferred busses three times in order to get to the airport and at this point, Ikuto figured it was all or nothing. Either Easter was bigger than he imagined and had people stationed at the International Airport or they were lucky and still weren't blacklisted.

* * *

><p>Dashing to the flight check-ins, Ikuto booked two tickets for the next plane to Shanghai, trying desperately to curb his overwhelming anxiety as he passed over their passports. Time seemed to stretch and elongate as the receptionist scanned their papers in a bored fashion, seemingly not surprised when the light flashed green and their tickets were printed all pretty and blue. "Here you are sir."<p>

Swallowing, Ikuto put on a shaky smile before turning to Amu, the both of them walking to the security gate, Amu now a bit more suspicious than before. Considering their passports went through and the world didn't explode, Ikuto's nerves calmed down to the point that when they arrived at the waiting room, his heartbeat had slowed to a normal rate and his eyes were no longer darting from corner to corner.

Eventually, the man at the desk called their flight in and as they entered with their one carry-on bag, Amu held her head up high and decided to place her trust in Ikuto just as she had as a child.

Everything would be revealed to her just as soon as they got to Shanghai.

Nodding at the receptionist, Ikuto and Amu marched up the stairs to their nondescript room in a normal run-of-the-mill hotel complex. From within the duffel bag, the charas were still asleep so deciding to leave them be, Amu fell onto the bed, pulling Ikuto down with her. Staring into those blue eyes she knew so well, Amu breathed softly against his nose. "We're finally here. Start talking." And so he did.

He told her all about Easter's interception, how the guards could see shugo chara and how they were most likely after anyone with one considering what the guard said when they attacked him. He told her how he urged Kukai to get everyone out of Japan and how by now, they should all be in separate Chinese provinces waiting for a week to pass before meeting up in Beijing.

Heart rising in her throat, Amu fought to breathe. This…this was a joke right? They couldn't be runaways! They hadn't done anything wrong! They hadn't done anything! So why! Why were they stuck flying out of their home country without even having told their parents and why was her chest tightening and oh, God, oh God she couldn't breathe! She couldn't breathe!

Gasping, Amu clutched at her chest haphazardly, eyes popping out of her head as Ikuto's concerned expression haunted her view. Grasping his wife's small body against his own, Ikuto grabbed a hold of Amu and squeezed her tightly. "Amu! Amu! I'm here, I'll protect you, we'll get through this. We'll get through it I promise! I promise." Stroking her hair gently, Ikuto waited until Amu's erratic breathing steadied before kissing her forehead. "Amu…Easter's going to kill us and I'm not going to let that happen. We have to run or it's the end for us."

Numbly staring back at him, Amu suddenly snapped to reality as she started backwards, her head nearly hitting the wall. "We can't just run away Ikuto! Are you saying you want to live your whole life suffocated by fear?"

Brows furrowing, Ikuto's gaze darkened. "I don't like this either Amu but we have to-"

"We have to fight!"

Startled, Ikuto looked up at his wife in surprise, "What?"

"We can't just let Easter get away with whatever they want. We have to stop them! The kids…they're so…it's like they're dead inside." Amu's voice went quiet as she thought back to her hopeless students. "If we're already Easter's enemies, then we may as well act like the real deal." Brows narrowed and eyes glowing resolutely, Amu stared Ikuto down, daring him to refute.

"Do you even realize what you're saying? You're willing to risk your life for something there's probably no hope of fixing? We don't even know anything _about _the Eggs Cradle or Easter's plans or even what the hell is going on!"

"It's called faith Ikuto. I had it when I saved _you _from Easter and I sure as hell have it now when the entire future generations livelihood's at stake." Taken aback, Ikuto's eyes widened as he hunched his shoulders inward, "Ikuto, what's the point of living if we can't do something for this world? Our shugo chara came back for a reason I'm sure of it. If Easter wants our shugo chara or wants to kill us, that means we're a threat. They're scared of us. And that's why we have to take them out before it's too late. We don't know what they're capable of this time Ikuto. You didn't see it…the Eggs Cradle. If Easter has control over all that power and knows how to use it, that'll be it. For everyone."

"And that's why we should hide! We could make it, you and I and all the rest. We could live in some remote country and change our names and get fake passports- we could do it! We could forget about Easter." He was pleading with her now, but he already knew he wouldn't win.

Smiling gently, Amu leaned forward to wrap her arms around Ikuto's torso, burying her head against his chest. "Ikuto. You'll always be with me, so there's no reason to be afraid right?" She knew why he wanted to flee so badly, she knew it so well that it hurt, because she didn't want to put her husband or her friends in danger either, but this was necessary. This was a battle only they could fight. And unlike last time, Easter wasn't kidding around anymore.

Cupping Ikuto's face in her hands, Amu stared at him seriously. "Could you really live with yourself knowing the destruction Easter will inevitably create?"

Bowing his head in defeat, Ikuto slumped into Amu's embrace for only a second before standing up straighter than before, a proud smirk painted on his face as though it was made to be there. "If you want to save the world, we had better start recruiting then."

Amu let a small smile inch its way across her face. "Before that though, we have to make sure they can't find us. We don't want them on our tails too early." Ikuto paused for a moment as he lost himself in thought, "I guess we'll have to make some fake I.D papers, find a way to move all our cash to a separate bank account under those fake I.D's and then get the hell out of here."

Nodding intently, Amu listened as Ikuto unraveled the beginnings of a plan. "For starters, they probably already know we're in Shanghai, which means that anything requiring our real identities needs to be done now and while we're in the city. When we leave this place, it'll be as different people and hopefully, without a trace."

"Isn't this the part where we dye our hair or something?" Amu asked, half jokingly, but partly serious.

"That'll come after. First, we need to move our money out of our current account and get it hooked to a new one. Which means we'll need to close our old one. Then, once we have the money, we'll change the way we look a little, get our new passports, citizenship papers; the works, open a new international bank account, get on the next train out of Shanghai and reach Beijing."

Lifting a brow, Amu whistled appreciatively. "That's a long list."

Crossing his arms, Ikuto sported a deadpan expression as he gazed dryly at his wife. "Once again Amu, your perceptiveness never fails to amaze me."

He never saw the shoe thrown at his face coming.

"Idiot."

* * *

><p><strong>AN I wasn't going to post the second chapter until I found a beta, but I'm having kind of bad luck now and I'm just a little impatient, so I'll just continue the story until I maybe get a reply. I hope you liked this chapter! **


	3. Identity Crisis

Amu fidgeted with the hem of her skirt anxiously as she stared up around the walls of the bank, trying to spot the cameras lining the corners and any hidden ones that were spying on her as she looked. Biting her lip, Amu counted silently in her head, 1...2…3…4? 4 and a half? What the heck was that?

Eyes straining to make out the strange black translucent object on the ceiling, she was interrupted as a tall man pushed her back none too gently and frowned at her. "Amu, would you calm down?"

In front of them, a satisfied customer walked away as the entire line moved up a few steps. Now there were only two more people in front of them and Amu could feel the queasiness in her stomach intensify. "I can't help it," she whispered back, "I don't like banks."

And she didn't. She didn't think the system was fair in the least and was always ranting off about how interest and corporate greed were going to destroy the country. Of course, it didn't help that she thought what they were asking for was slightly suspicious even though, technically, closing an account wasn't suspicious at all. But it wasn't like they were at home. They were in China, a foreign country who didn't even seem to like the Japanese very much if the news was any indication, not to mention they were asking to open an account in Switzerland, which was as offshore to the rosette as off-shore could get.

Sighing Ikuto patted her head in a slightly demeaning gesture, but with no real bite behind it and quirked up his lips. "Relax, everything's going to be fine."

Pouting, Amu stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms reflexively. "I know that." She muttered petulantly, but couldn't help the warm feeling that fluttered in her chest for a moment.

She was about to say something more before she felt a pop in her hair and a sudden calm overtook her like a breath of fresh air. "Oh." She whispered, fingers gently reaching out to touch the tip of the spade clip in her hair.

Letting a small smile grace her face, she patted her chara pouch- a random waist bag she bought at a dollar shop- in appreciation. That was her Miki, always there to help out. Breathing in deeply, Amu knocked her fist on the counter lightly and with a cool expression, asked for an appointment with a financial advisor as soon as possible.

Feeling in control of the situation as the receptionist nodded and buzzed the employee office if there was anyone available, Amu thought this wouldn't be so bad.

Fifteen minutes later, a short, stout man in a blue suit stepped out of his office and welcomed them in. As they had specifically requested someone who spoke Japanese, the couple was pleased by the easy communication between them.

"My name is Dun Zheng. How may I help you?" the man asked them politely.

Coughing, Ikuto straightened his back while pulling out two passports, drivers' licenses and proof of address and placed them all haphazardly on the desk in front of him. "We'd like to close our joint account and request that you look over opening us a new account at the Union Bank of Switzerland."

Dun blinked before nodding slowly. "We'll be able to close your account officially in 3-4 business days, but opening up a new account will take a bit more time." Dun leaned back in his chair thoughtfully, "What we can do for you is open the account online, but we would need to send your personal documents through the mail so the administrators can have proof of your identities."

"That's fine." Amu interjected, "We just need this to happen as soon as possible and have all our savings moved over to that account."

Dun sat forward, fingers already clicking the monitor open. Fingers typing across the keyboard, he pushed the screen towards the couple and handed them the board. "Just fill out the application and we can have the account process started. Also, if you would please sign these forms, we can get to closing your account right away."

"We also need two-thousand dollars in Yuan, the conversion costs don't matter to us." Ikuto added.

Dun nodded before getting up, "Certainly."

Amu took the forms as Ikuto started typing the online registration. Two minutes later, they switched as Dun stepped out of the office to file the closing papers. Turning to her husband, Amu frowned worriedly. "Ikuto! Why would you open our account through the bank? Won't they know!" Worry lines creased her forehead and her golden eyes stared into Ikuto's with a demanding gleam.

The blue haired man shook his head. "Well no matter how we did it, it wouldn't be hard to find out that we closed our account and moved the money, but once our new account is open and the money is transferred, not even Easter'll be able to figure out which account is ours." Noting the confused look on his wife's face, Ikuto continued, "The appeal of Swiss banking is that their accounts aren't categorized by names, but by numbers. So even if someone knows which bank you used, the encryption the banks use is so convoluted, that the identities of account holders remains hidden. We'll be able to access our money without anybody knowing, which is the whole point. It's just a simpler process if we ask this guy to start it for us." Ikuto explained, choosing his words carefully.

Nodding slightly, Amu settled back into her chair and mulled over his words just as Dun came back in. "Well then, are your applications completed?" he asked while handing Ikuto an envelope bloated with cash.

The couple nodded and he clicked the send button. "The bank will remain in charge of sending the photocopies of your documents to them and would you like their correspondence to be through us or come directly to you?"

Amu bit her lip, trying to think up of the best way to get what they wanted. "Would we be able to access this information at any branch?"

Dun shook his head, "Unfortunately, the bank is not allowed to open whatever UBS sends you, it would be an invasion of your privacy. You would have to come here to pick it up."

Sighing, Ikuto glanced at his wife and communicating tacitly, they both nodded, "I supposed we'll have to-" Ikuto was interrupted however, by Amu's sparkling eyes and enthusiastic hand gestures, "They wouldn't happen to do email would they?"

Tapping his fingers on the desk, Dun put some thought into his answer. "I don't see why they couldn't. Is that how you would prefer it?"

"We have to leave Shanghai in a weeks time and we just don't think it'll get here by then."

"No probably not," Dun agreed, "well then, we'll add a special request, they most likely won't be against it, but if they are, the bank will notify you and we'll work something out."

Smiling, Amu stood up and shook his hand, Ikuto following suite. "Thank you so much Zheng-san."

"My pleasure."

Walking out of the bank, Amu grinned at Ikuto happily, "Isn't this great? Now we don't' have to change the plan!"

Glancing down at the pink haired girl whose spade clip had since disappeared, Ikuto nodded and took her hand in his as they walked back to their hotel. They had one more thing to do before he could get their new passports. And luckily, they were both masters at hiding who they really were.

* * *

><p>"Stand still Amu! I can't take a good picture if you keep moving like that!" Ikuto sighed, exasperated and waited for his wife to stop squirming.<p>

"But I can't help it! I have black hair! Black!" Amu squealed in disbelief as she fiddled with her newly dyed hair in awe.

"And I'm a blonde, but you don't see me freaking out about it." Ikuto drawled.

"That's because you're no fun" Amu shot back, sticking out her tongue.

After receiving a blank stare from her husband, Amu sighed and straightened her back, staring at the camera with a plain expression, her purple eyes staring into Ikuto's own brown ones. "Okay, okay, I'm ready." She said slowly, once again caught up in admiring the wonder of contacts and hair dye.

It was amazing what shops sold nowadays. Ikuto, being the paranoid guy that he was, had decided they had to change their appearances just a little to make it a bit harder for Easter to find them just through a random search. So, they had marched into a drug store and bought a few bottles of hair dye and some colored contacts.

It was honestly the weirdest thing and Amu didn't really know if she could ever get used to seeing the unfamiliar face in the mirror considering that when she added make-up into the mix, she looked barely recognizable.

Ikuto though, had it far worse than she did. With blonde hair and brown eyes, he had decided to go for the surfer look and sported a Hawaiian shirt with white shorts and a hemp necklace around his neck instead of his usual cross. His normally straight hair was spiked up and he had put fake piercing along his ears and eyebrow. He looked ridiculous really, but as it was, she doubted even his sister could have picked him out in a crowd.

As the shutter clicked for the photo, Amu bounded from her seat and switched places with Ikuto. After both photos were taken, Ikuto turned to his shorter wife and kissed her softly on the mouth, smiling as he did. "See you soon Amu."

"We're meeting at the train station at three, so don't forget Ikuto!"

"I won't." He waved goodbye before closing the door shut behind him.

Frowning a little, Amu shook her head to clear her mind of any negative thoughts and nodded towards her shugo chara. "You ready girls? It's time to start our rebellion."

At their response Amu felt her heart break a little, seeing how different they were from before. They didn't cheer or yell happily at her enthusiasm like they did when she was eleven. Instead, their eyes narrowed in fierce and despairing determination. This wasn't like purifying X-eggs. This was war. A war they had to win if they were going to protect the world.

* * *

><p>The sky darkened as Ikuto shoved his hands into his pockets, staring at his surroundings. It wasn't hard to find what he was looking for. With his previous experience with the underground businesses of big-time corporations, Ikuto had mastered the dangerous look as well as gaining mastery of bargaining skills worthy of the Devil himself. Ikuto used the sparse mandarin he had picked up on through his travels to ask around in some of the shadier parts of town and profited immensely. Of course, a dictionary helped, but he liked to think it was all thanks to his incredible memory.<p>

Currently, a tall and buff man with spiral tattoos inked on his forearm came to a stop in front of a dusty building with a blinking sign. Ikuto's guide pointed to the door and made a gesture to go inside. Heeding his advice, the newly made blonde pushed the door open and stepped inside the wide room. Looking at the front desk, he banged his hand lightly on the table to attract attention and with cool eyes, demanded for two Canadian passports, citizenship papers and health cards, sliding two copies of his and Amu's pictures which he had printed before he came.

Sizing Ikuto up, the man behind the counter nodded slowly before sticking his hand out for the payment. Pulling out several thousands worth of Yuan, Ikuto paid the full price while adding extra. "Make it now." He demanded, his hand squeezing the other's tightly for just a second as the money was passed.

Blinking, the man nodded again before disappearing behind a door. Sighing, Ikuto looked around for a place to wait and finding a chair strewn in the corner, sat down gracefully with his leg resting atop his left one as his eyes pinned onto the door. Hopefully this wouldn't take long.

Two minutes later, the man returned with two forms and a blue pen. "You need to fill these out."

Pulling the cap off the pen, Ikuto stared at the forms in a kind of amused disbelief. He didn't understand what he was doing. What was he doing?

Buying fake passports? Moving their money into a Swiss bank account? What was this? James Bond? This was crazy.

Staring at the questions on the form, Ikuto's fingers shook ever so slightly. This was insane. Absolutely insane but... Amu's face flashed in his eyes and Ikuto's lashes fluttered shut. As keepers of shugo chara, it was their duty to set things right. And either way, whether they were going to fight Easter or not, the people behind this didn't seem to be willing to become friends anytime soon.

To protect his friends, to protect his family and to protect the person he loved most, Ikuto would do anything. No matter what it was.

Scribbling quickly on the page, Ikuto finished up the sheets in record time and silently passed them back to the waiting man before leaning back in his chair.

Yes it was crazy and yes it was terrifying. Terrifying to be paranoid every second of the day. Terrifying that they were always watching their backs not knowing who would follow. It was terrifying. But not as terrifying as the thought of Amu lying dead in his arms because he was too stupid, too weak, and too slow to act to protect her.

Amu had saved him once. It was time to return the favor.

Two hours of waiting later, two freshly printed passports, citizenship papers and health cards were placed into his hands as the man stared expectantly at him. "Well?"

Flipping through the pages, Ikuto grinned like a stray as the names and photos registered in his head. "Perfect."

Ikuto and Amu Tsukiyomi were gone. From now on, the public would know them as Luke and Rose Haruno, two Canadian born citizens.

* * *

><p>Hands on her hips, Amu squinted in concentration, trying to find what she was looking for. Around the lobby, dozens upon dozens of pamphlets lined the walls in all sorts of languages. Looking for the Japanese section, Amu clapped her hands excitedly as she found the train schedule. Busing from Shanghai to Beijing was too much of a hassle, as well as an extremely long and extremely taxing trip. Having decided on trains with Ikuto, Amu was trying to figure out when they could leave and which station to go to.<p>

Either way though, both trips would be difficult as even on trains, ten hours was just ridiculous. However, it needed to be done. Snagging the flyer, Amu didn't feel too stressed about anything considering they still had four more days to reach China's capital. Luckily enough, there was a train leaving the station at 4:35, which gave them just enough time to buy their tickets and familiarize themselves with a map of Beijing. Nodding to herself, she didn't notice the pair of eyes staring intently at her from across the window, nor did she consider that the men walking in an organized line were anything other than businessmen.

She really should have noticed.

Humming under her breath as she stepped into the elevator, the rosette smiled kindly at the three men who accompanied her and gestured towards the floor buttons. "Which floor?"

The man with blonde hair and startlingly cold brown eyes shook his head, "We're going to the eleventh floor too." He answered in a gruff voice.

Smiling, Amu fiddled with the strap around her waist that was holding the chara pouch when she felt an urgent bumping against her hip. Trying to keep her expression neutral, she unclasped the lock connecting the bag to the chain and put on a big show about dropping it. Pulling her knees to her chest as she bent down to drop it, she subtly unzipped the lid, making sure to use her back as a shield. Yoru's fearful eyes stared up at her earnestly as he held up Miki's sketchbook. One word was all that could fit onto the page, but it was enough to send fear screaming down Amu's spine.

**Run.**

Stupid girl! Stupid, stupid girl! Ikuto's descriptions of Easter's assault on him flashed in Amu's brain. She was such an idiot. Eyes widening in panic, blood pumped furiously in Amu's ears and her breath constricted in her throat. How had they found them so fast? How did they get here? Sucking in a breath, Amu chuckled nervously and clipped the pouch back around her waist.

As a safety precaution, Amu kept Yoru along with her four other charas in her pouch, as Yoru couldn't simply float around Ikuto's shoulders now that adults could see them. Apparently, the zipper for her pouch must have been opened a little for Yoru to recognize Easter's men.

Gripping the hem of her sleeve tightly in her fingers, Amu wracked her brain to try and find a way out. The elevator pinged at the sixth floor as a young man and his son walked in. Seizing the opportunity, Amu dashed out of the metal box, pressing the down button furiously as she passed it hoping the door would close before Easter could follow her.

Unfortunately, two of the henchman had managed to squeeze passed the now crying boy and his crouched dad and were chasing her down the hallway. Panting, Amu forced herself to keep the tears from her eyes as she scanned the walls for anything she could use. Spying the staircase, Amu lunged for the door, slamming it shut behind her.

Opening her pouch, she pulled out Ran's pink egg and launched it into the air. "My heart unlock! Amulet Heart!" Spirals and pink light swirled around her as a foreign cheerleading outfit clothed her.

The familiar heart visor adorned her head, but her cheerleading top was long tank top with a v-neck and ruffles and ended just above her white and pink striped track pants. Pink arm guards with hearts and ribbons at the top fluttered behind her and completing the outfit were what she really needed, running shoes.

Soaring through the air, Amu winced as she heard footsteps gaining on her more and more. Looking to her left, she paused as she stared down all the way to the floor. It was such a risky thing to do and she would be in blank range if they had guns for a few seconds but…

Closing her eyes, Amu grabbed the stair railing with her hands and flipped herself over it, pulling in her body pin straight as she fell through the gap. Landing with one leg bent and the other one stretched out, Amu gasped in a breath as she heard hateful swearing coming from up above.

Sparing them no time, Amu ran through the doors leading to the outside and started running as fast as she could to the Shanghai station. She just prayed they hadn't gotten to Ikuto first.

* * *

><p>Arriving at the station, Amu let her transformation disappear as she thanked Ran, hugging her to her cheek as discreetly as she could. A bundle of nerves, Amu waited anxiously until the clock ticked three; constantly looking over her shoulder in case Easter had followed her here. Finally, Ikuto's figure entered her field of vision and a relief she never knew could exist swept through her. Amu ran at her husband and swallowed him into her embrace. "Ikuto! Ikuto!" She murmured, nuzzling into his chest desperately.<p>

Worry crept into his eyes as his arms wrapped around her frame automatically. "Amu? What happened?" His concerned eyes stared at her face beseechingly.

"Easter found me at our hotel! But Miki warned me and I was able to escape but I-I thought they had you!" she whimpered, before straightening and wiping her face, determined not to cause a scene.

She could tell Ikuto was worried by the indents in his forehead and the way his foot tapped anxiously on the floor. "Let's buy our tickets, we have to get out of her as soon as possible." He stated flatly, grabbing her by the hand and bringing them to the ticket kiosk where a smiling lady awaited them.

"How may I help you?"

"Two tickets for Beijing please."

* * *

><p>An hour and half worth's of frazzled nerves and waiting, Amu and Ikuto boarded the planed, their paranoia having eaten at them the entire time. Only when they had boarded and the train started speeding down the tracks did they release the tension they had been coiling inside their stomachs like springs and collapsed into their seats. "It's over." Amu murmured, "They're never going to find us now."<p>

"That's the plan Mrs. Rose Haruno." Ikuto commented, sliding her new identification papers over to her and pinching her cheek affectionately.

Wrinkling her nose, Amu smacked his hand away. "Rose? Really? How tacky."

"Well I couldn't very well call you Strawberry could I?" Laughing, Ikuto hugged Amu close to his chest and smiled when she relaxed into his embrace.

"So the plan?" she questioned.

Ikuto twirled her now black hair in his fingers, his eyes a little sad that it wasn't the bubbly pink he had grown to adore. "Arrive in Beijing, find a hotel, hope our money lasts and meet up at the Chinese White House."

Amu chuckled, shifting her head to get more comfortable. "Kukai can be such a weirdo sometimes." She said teasingly, thinking about the incident where that name was first invented.

Ikuto smirked. "Can't deny that." After all, what kind of guy thought the crypt of a dead guy looked anything like the home of the President of the United States?

* * *

><p><strong>Special thanks to my new beta Miss. Arcobaleno for editing this chapter and I hope you all have liked it so far! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but school's kinda crazy and with my exams coming up in a month, I probably won't have much time to invest in this until everything's over. Thank you for all your lovely reviews and have a great day! <strong>


	4. Born To Die

The mausoleum of Mao Zedong. A marvelous building proud in its history and the time its spent withstanding the change of hundreds of seasons. Of course, it looked absolutely nothing like the illustrious home of the American president…but it was white…and it had pillars…so Utau couldn't really blame Kukai too much. It's not like the average Japanese citizen casually memorized all of America's popular landmarks anyway.

Or at least they weren't supposed to. Kairi was just a freak.

Rubbing her stomach gently, Utau stared out of the train window contemplating. She was worried no doubt, but years of lurking in Easter's shadow and running in the darkness had made her and danger good friends She could work with this. She glanced at Kukai.

She could definitely work with this.

Of all the scenarios she had ever made up in her mind about having to become fugitives, this had not been one of them. Alien invasion taking over the Japanese government? Hell ya. Finding secret documents containing terrorist plans? Holla. But being chased because of magic? She had long since stopped believing that adults had any sense of the world beyond this Earth.

Although once she thought of it, she realized it wasn't so surprising after all. Evidently, Easter already knew each and every one of them and Utau herself had seen the individual files they had on each and every one of the previous Guardians. They knew what each member was capable of and if they had even the slightest suspicion that they had their shugo chara back, they would know exactly where to find them. But they would always have targeted the Tsukiyomi siblings first.

Utau and Ikuto; Easter's slaves. Easter, more than anyone else, knew what the siblings were capable of. Knew that Black Lynx's claws could slash through solid steel. Knew that Lunatic Charm's trident could stab through obstacles like they were blades of quivering grass. And while their powers were great, it was their ambition and brilliant minds fostered like only those of the great tacticians of the past were, that made them dangerous. And Tsukiyomi Utau was very dangerous.

* * *

><p>Amu sighed in contentment, stretching her arms behind her back and mewling when her muscles relaxed. "Thank God we're here." She moaned, "I couldn't stand one more second in that train."<p>

Gazing at her in fake exasperation, Ikuto turned to glance around the station. "Should we bother getting a taxi? Or take our chances?"

Eyes flicking towards the Help desk, Amu shrugged. "We could just go ask." She suggested, already weary from their trip.

Ikuto reached for her hand and pulled her towards him gently, "Alright then, ladies first." Eyes glimmering playfully as he leaned in to kiss her sweetly.

Trudging towards the desk, Amu smiled tiredly at the kind looking lady and caught a whiff of cigarette smoke with a tinge of cheap perfume. "Hello, excuse me? Are there any hotels around here?"

The lady's eyes squinted for a second as her lips pursed before she turned around to face a small bookshelf. Thumbing through them, she found what she was looking for and held it out as though looking for confirmation. It turned out to be a japanese-mandarin dictionary. Ikuto nodded quickly and reached out for the book, looking for the words they needed before scribbling them on a paper she had slid over to them.

Eyes brightening, the lady nodded cheerily, grabbed a map from the stand next to her and traced a route in thick red marker. Handing it towards Amu, she waved for the next person to come as the couple smiled gratefully. 'The Opposite House' was certainly a nice hotel and was only six blocks away, not too bad of a walk. It could have been cheaper of course, but you couldn't have it all and to be honest, Amu was much to tired to complain and felt they had rather deserved sleeping in a hotel that actually offered free toiletries in the bathrooms.

Checking in quickly, Ikuto dropped their only possession, the duffel bag, onto the floor of their new room and pat the space next to him. "It's been five days already. We only have two left."

Amu nodded seriously, motioning for their shugo chara to come out, "We lie low for now, but guys, we have to know… why is Easter after us? Are they after us?" gesturing to herself and Ikuto, "or are they after you?"

Ran turned her face away in favour of tears as Dia shuddered. "We're sorry Amu-chan. Back then…we never told you… we never told you what the Eggs Cradle really was…we didn't think you needed to know." She began regretfully.

Amu's heart thumped in her chest. "What are you-"

"The Eggs Cradle is what you humans call 'magic,' it is inexplicable and has no real form. What you saw is what it is; a vast space, not unlike a galaxy in the sky. But because of the Eggs Cradle's immense power, it is extremely volatile, if left unchecked, it could destroy itself…Taking this world out with it." Dia's steely eyes burned holes in Amu's own. "If the Eggs Cradle is destroyed, all dreams, all hopes, everything that makes you human will be lost."

Amu didn't dare to breathe. Beside her, she could see Ikuto's tongue dart frantically at his lips and his chest quiver as his breath came in a startled gasp. "Because magic had seeped into this world too, before, back in the old days. Magic was constantly being pulled from one dimension to the next. Had humans not been so greedy, this could have continued. Except nothing is ever enough to the power hungry. They wanted more and more until the Cradle could not bear to have its magic sucked dry, leaving it unable to power its own self. To maintain that balance, to make sure the Cradle would never be close to destruction again, shugo chara were born…and magic was taken away from Earth, only to be used by those with a pure heart. And who has a purer heart than a child?"

"But why? Why bother leaving magic in this world at all? Why bother giving people like Kazuomi a chance to get that power?" Ikuto demanded, a trickle of rage freezing in his eyes.

"Cause the Eggs Cradle's attached to this world nya! If there's no magic here then everything will be ruined! The only way the Eggs Cradle could control the amount of power people would have was to create us, a vessel nya." Yoru responded, staring at Ikuto meaningfully.

"That's why X-eggs need to be stopped," Miki added, "there must only be a certain number of us on Earth at a certain time, when X-eggs are formed, it usually means that a shugo chara has been brought into earth early. That's why the Guardians were formed, to prevent that from happening."

"We are a part of the Cradle just as it is a part of us. Without us, the Cradle isn't at full power, but that's the point!" Ran's pink eyes narrowed in vindication. "We are all that's left of the balance."

Amu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly rose to her feet, panic shining in her wide eyes. "For the balance to work, does the Cradle need to physically be in its own dimension, or do you just have to be apart from it?"

Dia seemed to worried for a split second before she shook her head. "The answer's not clear. The world has already lost all hope for itself. The people have no will left. Is that because the Cradle has been moved or is it because Easter has it? I don't know." Tears sprung into her eyes. "I just don't know!" sobbing, the yellow chara sagged downwards, only to be scooped up by Amu who brought her lovingly to her cheek.

"It's okay Dia…everything's going to be okay…"

* * *

><p>They had met them at the train station. They seemed innocent enough. A guy in a plaid shirt smoking a cigarette, a tall muscleman in a dark suit, another carrying a suitcase with a slightly loosened tie and a coffee stain on his shirt and lets not forget the cabbie. Ahh the cabbie. It really was rather lucky that Utau just had an unnatural distrust for all things public. It may or may not have been her upbringing, but she likes to think she just has good taste and instincts.<p>

Kukai just calls her a spoiled rich girl.

Anyone else would have played it off as paranoia. The man in the plaid shirt was not constantly looking at them. The muscleman's left hand didn't keep brushing his left pocket as though to check that something was still there... although the bulge couldn't be missed. And the man with suitcase was on the phone talking to anybody, except that it wasn't anybody.

Either way, the fact still stands that as the couple stood out the train station looking around for an empty cab, they spotted one pulling in just that very second, sliding up right in front of them, snapping a shiny cellphone shut. Naturally, Utau was suspicious. The passenger window wheeled down and a friendly looking man peered out, shooting out a quick question, "Do you need a ride sir and madame?" While Utau's face remained blank on the outside, inwardly she smirked.

_Caught you_.

Because if it wasn't for the fact that suitcase man had stopped talking just as the cabbie switched off his phone, it was the way they all looked at each other- seemingly perfect strangers- once Utau and Kukai had their backs turned. Because Easter could try to hide behind the facade of incognito but Utau was Easter born and raised. She recognized the flesh coloured earpieces laced up the inner lining of collared shirts, because it was always collared shirts. She recognized the triple formation, a circle that you couldn't see. Utau's finger twitched. Really, if they were going to try and catch her, they really shouldn't have sent amateurs.

Smiling coldly, Utau shook her head at the cabbie primly. "We're fine thank you." Her suspicions were then proven to be true when the man narrowed his eyes, glancing quickly at something-or someone- behind them.

Craning her neck, Utau watched as the three men swarmed around them nonchalantly, Kukai being the oblivious child he had always been. "Utau, why aren't we-"

"He spoke _Japanese_ Kukai. _Eastern dialect_. Besides, have you not noticed the wannabe hitmen coming our way?" Utau hissed, jutting her chin outward in a tacit message.

Strengthening his grip on her hand, Kukai closed his eyes briefly. "Well? We can't exactly run. Character transformations?"

Blonde wisps stuck to Utau's forehead as she shook her head, "No, too risky. We're in broad daylight."

"Then what do we do?"

And as the idea struck her, the blond bared her teeth ferociously. A long time ago, she had been a Hoshina and now she was a Souma. But first and foremost, she was a Tsukiyomi and Tsukiyomis were hurricanes made of steel and fire.

Grinning beautifully, Utau made sure to sparkle for all she was worth. "Oh sorry! I didn't realize our hotel was farther than walking distance. Can we come in?" If Easter wanted a game, Utau could play and she would win. Taking freedom as a prize and Easter's pride as a hostage. Because girls were formidable, but Utau was that and so much more. She was _dangerous_.

* * *

><p>Somewhere else, somewhere another country away, four shugo chara sat in a circle, a bright glowing object between them. It was brilliant. Brighter than anything any human has ever seen. So bright it would outshine the sun and blind all those who see it. All, except for those born of magic.<p>

But of course, the four haggard looking beings were not there for pleasantries. They were not there for anything other than sitting and staring. They sat because they had no more strength and they stared because maybe the light of the object could burn the tears that continued to stream down their faces.

Their magic drained from them, likes drip from a faucet long since twisted off. They bit their lips as their bodies' strained from overuse. It is tiresome, they thought, it is tiresome…to be all that holds this world together.

Together, they sat and watched and sat and watched and poured their life into their work until the second in the circle started to fade. Her hands disappearing first as the invisible killer ate up her legs and crept up her waist. The last to go are her eyes whose tears blurred the startling purple as her fading whispers are drowned out by the thrum of machines.

'_I wasn't born to die for you'_

The three remaining beings looked away as another took her place.

* * *

><p>"Ikuto, we need a plan. How are we supposed to fight them? I don't even know how we can free the Eggs Cradle."<p>

"Well we know what they're after at least, it looks like the first way to keep Easter weak is to protect the shugo chara. That's our priority." Ikuto's shoulders were pulled back, the epitome of authority as his fingers tapped against the cabinet before he suddenly froze. Turning around swiftly, Ikuto grabbed his wife by her shoulders wildly. "Do you think…do you think there are others? People like us…people with shugo chara!"

Excitement glimmered in Amu's eyes and she couldn't keep herself from hopping up and about, "We know there are! And even if there aren't, there should still be people with shugo chara yet unborn."

"If we could get more people, we could really be a group worth fearing. If we could just figure out how to stop them…"

Placing a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder, Amu's brows were narrowed in resolution, her jaw set. "We know what they want, we know their goals and any others will manifest themselves eventually. Once everyone comes, we can make a better plan, but for now, we know that we have to keep the shugo chara close."

That night, the seven of them slept soundly, feeling safe with the knowledge that no one knew their real identities and feeling secure that they had a strategy. Because that's the funny thing with plans, once you've made them, you already feel like you've accomplished everything you needed to. It makes the tasks ahead a little easier, a little less earth shattering and much more mundane. But what lay ahead was something no one could ever have planned for but, you know what?

Betrayal always was an 'on the fly' kind of thing.

* * *

><p>Two days later, Amu and Ikuto took a taxicab to Mao Zedong's illustrious mausoleum where hundreds of tourists gathered, snapping pictures and posing, one man pointing his middle finger at the grave and taking a lewd selfie. Rolling his eyes, Ikuto pushed his fingers onto the small of Amu's back and nudged her gently to the right.<p>

It was around midday and they had dedicated themselves to waiting for any sign of their friends. The first of course, was Tadase who, as a member of the Japanese secret service, had a way of disappearing whenever he wanted with no trouble at all. Lips widening in a smile and eyes crinkling, Amu ran towards her blond friend, embracing him tightly. "Tadase! Are you alright? Did Easter find you?" she asked worriedly, scanning his body until she was satisfied.

Chuckling, Tadase leaned forward to hug Ikuto before answering pleasantly enough, "I'm fine Amu-chan, I came unfollowed and unbothered…I take it that you two were harassed on your way here?"

Snorting, Ikuto waved his hand around, "Harassed is putting it lightly. I had to jump out an office window and Amu threw herself down the stairs."

Concern glistened on Tadase's face before he glanced around warily. "You don't think…"

"They shouldn't have been able to find us." Amu reassured him, "We've been so careful and of course you have so much experience, it's hard to think that anything could go wrong."

Smiling at her confidence, Tadase nodded before craning his neck to see behind her, an affectionate smile blossoming across his lips. "Nagihiko-kun! Rima-san! Are you two alright?"

Immediately, Rima ran up, wrapping her arms around her best friend. "Amu! They got to Nagihiko and I, are you okay?" as usual, the petite blonde ignored everyone other than the dyed black haired girl.

"Ahh…I'll take that as a yes…" Tadase murmured, grinning at a somewhat sheepish Nagi.

"We ran into some Easter operatives, but we managed to dodge them before we got into any real trouble." Nagi reassured them, as he shook Ikuto's hand in greeting.

"Have you character transformed yet?" Amu asked, glancing at Rima inquisitively, "When I transformed with Ran to escape from Easter, I felt my powers change, even my outfit was different! Can't say I didn't like it though…"Amu chuckled awkwardly, inwardly imagining how that tiny frilly skirt would look a hundred times more sultry on an adult than it had looked cute as a kid.

Snorting, Nagi hid a snicker behind his hand as Amu's husband glared at him menacingly. "We didn't need to. Unlike you, we know how to stay away from danger." Rima replied bitingly, crossing her arms and looking at Amu as though it was really all her fault.

Which technically, in a weird, sort of roundabout way, it kind of was. But Rima just couldn't go accusing her of that! But Amu really didn't have much of a retort to that and so resorted to sticking out her tongue. As her friends laughed and Rima squeezed her hand, Amu caught herself staring lost into the cloudy sky.

* * *

><p>Kukai was puzzled to say the least, but there was no one he trusted more than Utau so he decided to do as he was told. Throwing in their one suitcase into the backseat, he opened the front door of the taxi and stepped in, watching as Utau got in the back directly behind the driver.<p>

Peering out from behind her dark shades, Utau could see the three men she had been watching get into a sleek silver car behind them, idling. The girl snorted. They should have sent someone inside with them, _that_ would have assured their docility.

But people were stupid, always underestimating their opponents and overestimating their own intelligence. She supposed she should take her own sardonic advice, but considering she was the victim, Utau didn't see the need.

"Anywhere in particular you'd like to go sir?" the cabbie addressed Kukai politely as the latter pulled out a taxi card and pointed towards the hotel address.

"Over here please."

"Oh, the Golden Panda? That's a lovely hotel. Great service." The cabbie's fingers twisted around the key and the engine sprung to life like a cougar ready to launch at its prey.

Kukai's eyes followed carefully. "Oh really? That's great to hear, my wife and I like to have every luxury." The brunet could tell by the way the man's lip twitched that he thought this would be a piece of cake. Spoiled Japanese elite thinking they'd have a Hollywood worthy getaway. Kukai's eyes watched harder.

Slowly, the taxi pulled out of station property and the silver car trailed innocently behind them. Utau grinned, her fingers playing with the hem of her bright orange scarf. As the taxi sped along the wide expanse of the road, Utau made her move.

Whipping her scarf off, Utau's fingers squeezed without mercy as she strung the scarf around the cabbie's neck and through the metal rods that held up his headrest. Pulling the scarf taut across his neck, Utau jerked her head, "Where are you taking us?" she demanded, pulling the scarf tighter to show she meant business.

The car drove steadily down the road and the car behind seemed none the wiser. From her vantage point, Utau could see the first trickle of worry seep into the man's eyes and she bit back a smile.

"To your hotel m…madame, like you wanted me to." He stuttered, his Adam's apple rubbing painfully against the tightness of the scarf.

"That's not true and you know it, so I'm going to ask you one more time. Where. Are. We. Going?" The blonde could tell by the way the cabbie's eyes flickered to the side mirror that he was considering doing something none of them would like, she could tell Kukai was worrying as well by the way his fingers pulled at the hem of his shirt, an old nervous tick of his.

The road they were driving on was the typical two way streets needed to access the higher density highways. The opportunities were endless. Left turns, right turns, roundabouts, U-turns, Kukai's mind ran through them all. They were on the right lane, going forward…there was a left turn in 35 metres…cars coming from the other direction…silver car following…27 metres…15…10…think Kukai…THINK!

Striking like a cobra, Kukai launched towards the wheel and twisted the wheel violently to the left shouting at Utau to hold on. Immediately, the car swerved into the next lane ignoring the beeps of a furious blue car coming their way. Nearly hitting the curb, Kukai straightened the wheel hurriedly with one hand and watched as they continued steadily down another municipal road.

By now, the driver looked positively terrified and Utau looked a tad ruffled, but overall, his girl was doing just fine. "You alright there Star Face?"

Utau smiled prettily, her eyes crinkling with fond exasperation, "Been better. Help me get him out. I was going to question him, but this is an opportunity we can't miss."

"Yah, no problem." Stepping out of the taxi, Kukai hurried over to the driver's side before pulling open the door and dragging the man out before tackling him to the ground. The man never stood a chance against a world-renowned athlete.

Reaching out for Utau's scarf, he tied the man's wrists behind his back and stepped back, admiring his work. "Should we knock him out?" he asked casually, cocking his head.

Hands on her hips, Utau's brows met together. "Are you serious Kukai? You can't just go knocking people out-"

"You were threatening to _choke_ him. With your _scarf_." Kukai emphasized, his lips quirked up into something not unlike a teasing grin. "If that's not crazy freaky I don't know what is."

"They were trying to kidnap us." Utau justified, already slipping into the front seat of the car. "Besides, how were you planning on knocking him out anyway?" she asked curiously, poking her head out the window to peek out at her husband.

Kukai grinned recklessly, "Like this," reaching into the backseat, Kukai grabbed the one weapon he had always wanted to try out, Utau's million pound purse.

Needless to say, the man was knocked out, Kukai and Utau stole a car, driving away James Bond style and Utau's shriek was heard all the way out in Canada.

* * *

><p>Yaya and Kairi showed up half an hour after the rest of the group did and found them having coffee at a little café in front of the mausoleum. Yaya had cried a bit, sobbing into Kairi's chest as he comforted her softly. "I was so scared!" Yaya cried out, "What if they had found us! What if-!"<p>

Tadase's gentle hand on her head stopped her tears as he smiled compassionately, "But they didn't Yaya-san, they didn't get to any of us. We're all here aren't we?"

"Kukai and Utau aren't."

Tadase went silent. Ikuto just looked away.

* * *

><p>"Sooooo…are we there yet?"<p>

"For the last time Kukai, NO!"

* * *

><p>By now, it had gotten late and every one of the ex-guardians had gotten worried. Kukai and Utau weren't exactly punctual, but they weren't unnecessarily late either. And really, they all supposed, in a group as large as this, it was really just statistics. Statistics and probability and Utau was pregnant and that made her the weakest link. So if anyone was going to get caught because they couldn't fight, it would be her. And obviously Kukai wouldn't stand for it. He loved that girl more than he loved himself so he probably went down trying and oh my god why did it have to be Utau and Kukai?<p>

Amu's mind raced a mile per minute and she swore that when she saw a haggard and travel worn Utau dragging a pouting Kukai by his ear, her heart burst from her chest and flew up to heaven. "You're LATE!" she yelled out instead, smiling in spite of herself as she saw the light burst into her best friend's eyes and Kukai look up cheerfully.

"We ran into a bit of trouble, I even got to knock a man out with a purse! A purse Ikuto! The chick flicks were true!"

Ikuto could really only stare as all their friends rejoiced at their arrival before he joined in, hugging his sister as tight as he dared and kissing her on the cheek when he pulled away. "I'm glad you're okay." He said finally, giving her a once-over to make sure.

"Did you ever doubt it?"

Ikuto did, but he wouldn't say so. Because his sister was smart but somewhere out there, there was someone smarter. He just hoped he could protect her long before they ever met them.

"Never." he said instead.

"So what now?" Kairi voiced, gesturing towards the whole of them, "You brought us here Ikuto-san, now you have to tell us why."

Nodding sharply, Ikuto pulled out an address from his pocket, "This is the hotel we're staying at. We'll go there and talk. But after you hear what we have to say…there's no going back. Take this as a warning."

Back in their hotel room, the duffel bag glowed quietly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN I don't know what to say, I'm late and I'm awful. I'm sorry! But once again, thanks to my lovely beta reader Miss. Arcobaleno and thanks to everyone who reviewed/ favourited and followed my story!**


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